The union claims that Boeing (NYSE: BA) 787 customers including All Nippon Airways (ANA), Japan Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines, and Air India have received flight training from full-time Boeing pilots, but Qatar and LAN won't receive the same level of training.

While Boeing wouldn't confirm that it is using contract trainers for Qatar and LAN pilots, in a statement Boeing spokesman Jim Condelles said the practice isn't new, that instructors have similar experience to Boeing's own instructors, and that Boeing brings on trainers to get through periods of higher-than-normal training demand.

Condelles said the contract instructors primarily come from a Boeing 777 background, because that aircraft shares a common type rating with the 787, adding that the instructors received the same training as full-time employee instructors. He said the contract instructors primarily are former pilots from major airlines, and have an average of 16,000 flight hours per pilot.